5 Clever patriotic ways to chalk your hair

Allison Pynn has worked on the faces of Paula Abdul, America Ferrera, The Band Perry, Bret Michaels, and Sarah Palin. She grew up in rural Indiana running around corn fields and digging up worms, but always with lip gloss on! Allison has...

Hair-chalked hairstyles

Messy bun with hair chalk

2. Use a piece of red, white or blue hair chalk to color a small section at your bang area. TIP: It's best to wet the hair before you chalk — it helps chalk color adhere to hair.

3. Coat the next three sections of hair with the other chalk colors.

4. Next, braid the chalked hair down along your hairline, bringing it around to the back of your head and clip it to temporarily hold it in place.

5. Repeat the same braid on the opposite side of your head.

6. Bring all your hair to one side and wrap the second braid around the bulk of your hair (so the braid appears to be holding all your hair as a ponytail holder would). Bobby-pin the braid into place to secure it. TIP: Hide bobby pins for the best look.

7. Color the remaining hair in the "ponytail" with the hair-chalk colors.

8. Wrap this remaining hair into a messy bun and tie it off with a ponytail holder. Tweak hair pieces so that the ponytail holder doesn't show and all you see is the braid holding the bun hair.

This is a quick, easy way to look like you did something intricate and complicated.

Braided bun with hair chalk

1. Gather all your hair into a high ponytail and secure with a ponytail holder. Then section out one large piece of hair and let it hang out. Roll the remaining hair into a bun (secure it with bobby pins if needed).

2. Split the hanging section of hair into three equal parts.

3. Use a piece of your 4th of July-colored hair chalk and chalk each section a different color (one section will be red, one will be blue and one will be white).

4. Once all three parts are colored with hair chalk, braid this section of hair. Tie your hair off at the end with a clear elastic hair tie.

5. Wrap the colored braid around your bun and secure them with bobby pins. Tweak the braid around the bun so it stays put and looks full and thick around the bun.

Hair chalked hair bow

1. First, grab two small sections of hair around your face — you'll be working on one and clipping back the other.

2. In the hanging section of hair, start halfway to 3/4 of the way down, depending on your hair length, and color it with red hair chalk. TIP: You may need to give the hair you're about to color a light mist of water — this will help the color adhere to the hair.

3. Color the other section with blue hair chalk.

4. Once both sections are fully colored, bring them to the back of your head. Grab a clear elastic band and begin to tie your hair off.

5. As you're tying, don't pull your hair all the way through the loop — leave the majority of your hair hanging out.

6. Separate each color of the hanging hair and pull out the red section to one side. Bobby-pin the red side so that the back of the "bow" is flat to your head (this is where the bobby pins will go, so they'll be hidden). Pin slowly and strategically until it starts to take the shape of a bow. Use hair spray to keep it in place.

7. Repeat the same to the blue side and use hair spray to keep it in place.

8. Wrap the hanging hair up and over in between the two colors. This will complete your bow.

Hair-chalked rope braid

1. You may want to throw on gloves — hair chalking can get messy.

2. With water, lightly mist a small section of hair around your face.

3. Starting halfway down the hair, color that section with red hair chalk.

4. Repeat this process on the other side of your face with the red hair chalk.

5. Color the next small section back behind the red section with light blue hair chalk.

6. Repeat this process on the other side of your head.

7. Color the next section back behind the light blue hair (or white if that's what you chose) with dark blue hair chalk.

8. Repeat this process on the other side of your head.

9. With a wide-tooth comb, lightly brush through the chalked hair (the chalk makes hair feel dry and tangled so a light brushing is great).

10. Cross the red piece of hair over the light blue (or white if that's what you chose). Cross them over each other two times and then pick up the dark blue, crossing them over each other (or you can just twist them all together to make it easy). Pull this twisted band of hair to the back of your head and temporarily clip it into place. Repeat this process on the other side of your head.

11. Once both twisted pieces meet at the back of your head, tie them off with an elastic hair tie.

Hair-chalked side braid

1. Color a medium-sized section of hair around your face with light blue hair chalk. Going back and shifting down slightly, color the next section of hair dark blue.

2. Gather all your hair to the color-chalked side and begin to braid it.

3. Once all your hair is in a braid, if there are any areas of hair not colored, go back with the hair chalk now and touch up the color (you may need to lightly spritz the braid with water to help the chalk colors adhere to your hair).